GROWING THROUGH PRAYER (A 'LOVING GOD GREATLY' BIBLE STUDY)
February 25, 2016
Week 7 ~ Day 4
Read: 1 Kings 18: 20-39
SOAP: 1 Kings 18:38-39
S:
“Then the fire of YHVH fell, and
consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and
licked up the water that was in the trench.
When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said,
“YHVH, he is Elohim; YHVH, he is Elohim”
O&A:
This passage really makes me
think of Joshua 24:15 “Choose you this day whom you will serve.”
“If
it seem evil to you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve;
whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the
gods of the Amori, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will
serve YHVH/the LORD.”
Abba not only consumed the offering,
but every thing around it! Even the
stones, which, I mean, STONES. Stones
generally don’t burn. He is an
all-consuming fire!
“Take heed to yourselves, lest you
forget the covenant of YHVH your Elohim, which he made with you, and make you
an engraved image in the form of anything which YHVH your Elohim has forbidden
you. For YHVH your Elohim is a devouring fire, a jealous El.”
This was no ordinary fire that
Abba sent down. When the prophets of
ba’al were calling on their god/mighty one, and they weren’t answered,
Eliyah/Elijah called on Elohim, creator of the Universe, and YHVH and said, “YHVH, the God of Avraham, of
Yitzchak, and of Yisra'el, let it be known this day that you are God in
Yisra'el, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at
your word. Hear me, YHVH, hear me, that this people may know that you, YHVH,
are Elohim/God, and that you
have turned their heart back again.”
(Side note here: It’s important to
point out that Eliyah/Elijah called out to the NAME of the Father, YHVH, and
not LORD, because the prophets of Ba’al (which I normally won’t speak out loud)
were calling out to THEIR lord – ba’al means lord, so Eliyah was making it
absolutely clear WHO he was calling out to, and designating the might and
awesomeness of YHVH!)
I have not yet seen a fire that
consumed stone, and ash. When we lived in Louisiana, we used to burn our
leaves, because with an acre of trees, you get a lot of leaves. My husband and sons would make a ring of
rocks and stones to contain the fire, and in our several years of living there
and doing that, not one single time did the fire ever consume the rocks and
stones. It once got so high that the
heat scorched some leaves up high on a tree (don’t tell my mom!), but even with
that kind of heat, the stones and rocks stayed intact.
All of this brings to mind how Abba
wants to fully and totally consume us.
Completely giving myself to Him involves every aspect of my
life. How can I be on fire for Him if I
won’t allow Him to consume every facet of my life? If I won’t allow Him to burn off the things
that don’t bring Him glory, or won’t testify to His greatness? He wants to show Himself mighty and great so
that others will fall down, like these prophets, and cry out, “YHVH, he is Elohim; YHVH, he is Elohim!”
P:
Abba, You are an all-consuming
fire! Consume everything in me that is
not of You, to be a testimony to those who are worshipping at the altars of
other mighty ones, so that all will fall down and cry out that YOU, YHVH, are
Elohim! Let me not forget the covenant
that You and I have with each other! Let
me not bow down to any master that is not You.
Abba, this day I choose You, and I choose to serve You – there is no
Elohim like You. I pray that I’m not
alone in choosing You.
The Torah portion we’re reading
this week is when You became angry with the children of Israel, ben Y’Israel,
for making the golden calf, and bowing down to it, and I feel like this ties in
so closely to this passage today. Abba,
forgive me for putting things before You, and help me to keep You in the
forefront of my mind, and be the totality of all that I am. YHVH, You are Elohim! I pray, Abba, that You will be with those who
are dealing with the aftermath of the severe weather we had in places here in
the U.S., and I pray that even while their homes, businesses, life, may look to
be in total chaos, that they will reach out to You for Your peace. Not just in the U.S., Abba, because You speak
every language, and You know every custom, and every culture. I just have hope, Abba, for You to be
glorified worldwide, and I have hope that knees will make contact with ground
in the act of worship and prayer across the globe, and that all that have
breath will praise Your name! In Yeshua’s
name, Amein.
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